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Quint interviews Neil LaBute about his WICKER MAN remake!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another Comic-Con '06 interview. This time I sat down with Neil LaBute, director of the WICKER MAN remake. All my Comic-Con '06 interviews are one on ones. I don't do round tables, so every interview from the Con on this site will be unique. At least, I hope they are. hehe
One of the drawbacks to conducting one on one interviews this year at the Con is all but a few were only 5 minutes. So, the interviews you'll see hitting this week are short, but hopefully not full of fluff... no promises, though!
Here's my chat with Neil LaBute about his very controversial remake! LaBute seemed like a really cool guy, but honestly... they sat us out in the sun and I was facing that big yellow bastard through the whole interview and I couldn't even open my eyes for the last half of it. He must have thought I was insane... this weird fat dude with a scrunched up face, water spilling down his cheeks, asking him why remake WICKER MAN? Yikes... Anyway, here's the interview:
QUINT: I met Christopher Lee on the set of RETURN OF THE KING a few years ago and we actually talked a lot about the original WICKER MAN and about this sequel he was trying to get off the ground called MAY DAY.
NEIL LABUTE: May Day... didn't it have another name at one point... Like RIDING THE LADDIE or something like that.
QUINT: I remember hearing that, too. I'm sure it must have been the same project, maybe a subtitle or something. Did you know about that project when you signed on?
NEIL LABUTE: I certainly heard about it, but I don't know much about it. I'd heard rival things about it. Whether it was a sequel or if it took certain characters... I don't know that much about exactly what the story was, but I had heard at least he and Robin Hardy (director of the original WICKER MAN) were involved.
QUINT: Well, what Lee told me was kind of like what you guys are evidently doing, where it's a sort of re-imagining of the original, however he was still coming back as Lord Summerisle.
NEIL LABUTE: A character I can certainly see him playing more of. I was looking at it again just the other day... I certainly looked at it before I made the movie, but I thought I'd go back and give it a look again. He was just so relaxed and enjoyable in that movie. He's a great character... and a great look, too. I just love his turtleneck... We, in fact, put a nod to one of his looks in the movie. There's the whole gold turtleneck and jacket you'll spot on somebody.
I came to the movie loving that original movie, so it was not something where I was saying "Oh, that movie's crap, but I can make it better," you know? I really loved the story and I had a very different take on it. In fact, so different that I'm not going to even try to have somebody compete as Lord Summerisle. It's going to be a whole different thing, in this case a Matriarch. We all end up in the same place, but the journey is very different.
QUINT: Beyond the whole, "Why remake it in the first place?" argument, I can't believe you got a studio to do anything remotely like this... I would have a hard time believing they'd think this was an easy sell...
NEIL LABUTE: It's deceptive in a way. Ultimately, it's coming out with a studio, but it was made independently. So, it was picked up and it'll be distributed through Warner Bros., but it's actually an independent movie. But it's the same thing. Somebody with money saying, "Now... you want to make what?" It's a very... this movie is very much like the original in that you come out of it and feel like, "I've never been to a world like that. That was legitimately weird." So, yeah. Anybody who's trying to make mainstream movies are not interested in that kind of property, so it's cool to see somebody who said, "I'll put some money into that and make it happen."
QUINT: I take it Nicolas Cage coming onboard helped that a lot.
NEIL LABUTE: It didn't help. It's what made it happen. He was there before I was there. He had been shown the movie by Johnny Ramone. In fact, he tells the story that even when he was near death, when he saw Johnny, he said to him, "Are you going to make that movie?" That was really a driving force behind the movie for Nic. He kind of got really interested in it after he was introduced to it by Ramone. In fact, we have a "For Johnny Ramone" at the end of the movie.
Nic's power was behind the thing from the very beginning. Actors are often that driving force for a movie... That's not only who an audience connects to, but that's who can get these things made. I have no bones about saying that he's the reason that movie is up on the screen. It's a fact.
And he's the kind of guy who can make a character like that, who is the protagonist... Like, you know... he's very well known for playing character parts. Putting a world that's even stranger around him is no easy thing. It was fun trying to create that world.
And that's that. Told ya', short but sweet. I'm still very mixed on the idea of remaking a movie like WICKER MAN. I'm not sold, but the idea of Ellen Burstyn in the Christopher Lee role has me intrigued. I hope the flick stands on its own.
Got some more shooting at you soon. Sorry about lying and telling you guys I would start them rapid-fire style this past weekend (YackBacker), but some technical difficulties mixed in with my own personal laziness and a touch of film discovery kept me from transcribing duty. I'll make sure you have plenty to last the week.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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I hope this thing is still a musical
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Good stuff...
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Christopher Lee is not coming back as Lord Summerisle but as a similar character in this story which is set in the Scottish borders and not the Western Isles. The novel is out and is okay - not great and more a revisit to similar themes than a sequel. It was called Riding the Laddie to begin with but is now called Cowboys for Christ (as 2 of the characters are American virgins and I believe Cowboys for Christ is a real sect / organisation). I am interested in the remake of 'The Wicker Man' though I hope to all that is holy and / or pagan that the supernatural stuff in the trailer is not in the film as the Wicker Man does not NEED ghosts or scary little girls - it's a story of faith against faith and there should be NO villains.
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is a fascinating film, but also the kind of movie that is PERFECT for a remake. I felt like the first one only scratched the surface in a way... as I guess Lee and Hardy did as well. Looking forward to this one.
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"Beyond the whole, "Why remake it in the first place?" argument, I can't believe you got a studio to do anything remotely like this..."
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LaBute is pimpin in that picture.
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sorry to rain negativity down on the TB but it will. The ending is changed, i don't know the reason for calling this 'The Wicker Man' other than to cash in on the memories of a previous film to guarantee that it won't be just teenagers in the audience to see a by0the-numbers thriller with atypical stopshock horror jumpcuts. I'll buy the DVD later in the year just to burn this in a fire. Yep, I would go that far. I guess I only rain down such venom in the hope LaBute will read this & take into heart you can't change principle parts of a story for your lead actor (Johnny Ramone deathbed endorsement or not)
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I am not too bothered about the ending being changed in setting as long as it keeps the nihilistic and gut wrenching tone. Though I have no idea how this puppy does end so it might end up with a huge gunfight and a giant robot wicker man destroying the island!
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made me laugh
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but turning the Golden Bough-esque pagan stuff into satanist witchcraft completely undermines the point of the original film and is ironically regressive to the kinds of films that were typically made when the original came out (like Rosemary's Baby). The original certainly stands out for being unique in its treatment of otherness. I'm hoping this isn't another LaBute trademark theme - "look at what messed up stuff women will do when we let them run rampant." But given some comments I heard from a Wiccan consultant, those hopes aren't too high.
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First - Leave the Wicker Man alone.
Second - Nic Cage sucks in everything!!
lol
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The creepy thing about the original Wicker Man was that it was all based on real religion - this is just fluff, and audiences will know it's fluff - and fluff isn't scary. It dosn't really matter how this got made, it's still going to be a steaming pile of shit. Here's hoping May Day gets off the ground soon.
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It's the same damn ending, people.
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Leave the film alone...you bet. Nic Cage sucks in everything...double you bet!
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...one of the main reasons why the film shouldn't have a "remake." The twist at the ending is one of the things that made it great fun to watch and in a remake it will not be a shock unless they change it. If they change it...well then it's not really "The Wicker Man" anymore. If only they would leave stuff alone and produce good and original Horror. I'm with Brody77 and Tucson...don't remake it, keep Cage off the cast lists, I'm tired of him.
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it? That is one hell of an attitude to take to something you like. Thats like being on your deathbed and asking Good Charlotte to remake Blitzkrieg Bop. "coughcough, It's a great movie Nic, don't rerelease it or tell people about it, just *cough* redo it so people get the gist of it... eerrrkkkkk *deathrattle*"
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...should fight crime together. I'd be there opening weekend.
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I just don't get the ending of the original. I mean, really...the people are all made of wicker? That makes no sense at all.
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And eat them. After all, it's a new century.
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Nic Cage's character does become engulfed in flames within the Wicker Man, but his faith in Christ saves him long enough to exact vengence on the pagan bastards, or it turns out he was dead and a ghost the whole time.
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Pagans, as silly as they are, do not pose any threat to civilization. Throughout the majority of the film, red-herrings should point to pagans, satanists, muslims and jews. At the climax, Cage should be forced to enact the stations of the cross and then be "risen" by having his corpse placed inside a wicker form of Jesus.
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All we want is a good crop, a mild winter, and a good shag going about it. If you prick us, do we not bleed, if you bleed us, are we not pricks? Come on, join us. Worship the Celtic gods...it's mad fun.
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I especially love being around a good fire and great drumming (especially at dawn), but jumping over the fire is not advised. Especially when you've had a few. All hail Lugh! It is Lughnasa after all.
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I hate that they changed it from pagans to satanists. Frankly, I never really saw the first one as a horror movie. The christians have burned a lot more pagans throughout history, so it's a nice change to have the shoe on the other foot.
"Some people will never understand the true nature of sacrifice." - May Morrison
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